Amblyopia is a vision disorder whereby information from one eye is not completely transmitted or not fully processed by the brain in favor of information from the other, “strong” eye. A common treatment modality for Amblyopia is the periodic occlusion of the “strong” eye for a prescribed duration over a specified time period. Occlusion may be achieved with an opaque “patch” that covers the eye by attachment to the face or by attachment to eyeglass lens or frame. This method of periodic occlusion is commonly referred to as “patching.” Patching is also used as a treatment of strabismus and other vision disorders.
The most common method of tracking such treatment is asking the patient or caregiver to keep diaries or logs of patching without the use of any automation. The diary is reviewed when the patient next meets with their practitioner. This method relies on the patient or caregiver accurately recording these times. However, this may often be inaccurate.
A prior art apparatus uses two skin contact electrodes added to an adhesive patch and connected to electronics carried in a separate bag. The device seeks to use electrical resistance measurements between the electrodes as a sign of the patch being worn.
Another prior art apparatus attaches a small, self-contained device to a patch and monitors the temperature difference between the front and back of the device, as a signal for the wearing of the patch. This method does not rely on the patient or caregiver remembering to record timings but does require them to remember to transfer the sensor/microcontroller combination from patch to patch.